Let’s write Japanese icons in Kanji.

List of Japanese icons

English	Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	Meaning
Mt Fuji	富士山	ふ・じ・さん	fu ji sa n	Mt Fuji
samurai	侍	さむらい	sa mu ra i	samurai
geisha	芸者	げい・しゃ	ge i sha	geisha
nippon	日本	にっ・ぽん	ni p po n	Japan
harakiri	腹切り	はら・き・り	ha ra ki ri	see below
bonsai	盆栽	ぼん・さい	bo n sa i	see below
banzai	万歳	ばん・ざい	ba n za i	see below
bento	弁当	べん・とう	be n to u	lunch box
sushi	寿司	す・し	su shi	sushi
hentai	変態	へん・たい	he n ta i	crazy

Note

Hentai

変態（へん・たい／he n ta i）literally means crazy in Japanese.

Somebody outside Japan started to use the word in a different way,

so that it has now a different meaning in countries where English is spoken.

Harakiri

腹切り（はら・き・り／ha ra ki ri）is one of the customs of samurai soldiers.

They stabbed themselves in the stomach with a short knife

to kill themselves after they made mistakes such as losing battles

by which they showed how loyal they were

to their boss such as a shogun (general).

Bonsai

盆栽（ぼんさい／bo n sa i）is a mini tree in a pot.

Banzai

万歳（ばんざい／banzai）is what Japanese people say to show their happiness or joy to the Japanese emperor.

It can be seen during war time especially as Japanese people fought for him.

You can see banzai in the video below as they do it to the new emperor.